Cavalier the hot favourites but Vere eyeing upset in JWPL semi
Published:Saturday | May 20, 2023 | 12:54 AMLivingston Scott/Gleaner Writer
Vere United’s women will be seeking to get past favourites Cavalier when the teams meet in the Jamaica Women’s Premier League (JWPL) first-leg semifinal at the UWI-JFF Captain Horace Burrell Centre of Excellence at 3:30 p.m. today and coach Peter Allen believes they have it in them to create an upset.
Cavalier defeated Vere 7-0 and 2-0 in the regular season but Allen said they were ill prepared physically for the first encounter and were disappointed to lose the second match in the last five minutes of the game.
However, he revealed that his girls are eager for the rematch and believe they can be third time lucky.
“The first game we lost we were unfit. The girls believe they should have won the second game because it was 0-0 with five minutes to go, and we were missing key players for that game.
“For this match, we are looking forward to coming together and playing our best game.
“It is going to be a good match. We are prepared physically and there are things we can do a bit better. They are looking to pull off the upset and we believe we can,” he said.
Nevertheless, he expects Cavalier to be as strong as they have been all season, and after losing the knockout final to Frazsiers Whip last weekend, he anticipates they will be looking to produce a good performance.
“Cavalier are very good. They have some quality and they will be looking to play a good game and get back to the final again,” he stated.
The Vere charge will be led by Tashika Hamilton, Dahlia Whyte, Keiba Cowan, Jully-Ann Howard, Seanoya Taylor and Mureka Howard.
Cavalier’s coach Everdean Scarlett said they are now at the business end of the season and no team can be taken lightly, although they will go into the contest as the favourites.
READY TO GIVE BEST PERFORMANCE
“When it comes to semifinals and finals, teams are ready to give their best performance so you cannot take anything for granted.
“They have reached the semifinals so you cannot rule them out. They will be up against one of the best team in the competition, and we anticipate that they will be coming with their A game,” Scarlett said.
He noted that although they defeated them 7-0 in the first game, the Clarendon team made it very tough in the return fixture.
He added that they have put the knockout final defeat behind them and are ready to take the advantage today.
“The girls were disappointed that they did not come out with the victory but they have put all that behind them and we are going into this semifinal ready and prepared,” he said.
Cavalier will look to leading scorer Rena Gordon, Sheyenne Bonnick, Sashana Watson, Jynnell Graham, Ashanti Lewis, Suen Gregory and Kersha Thomas.
The other semifinal between Frazsiers Whip and Olympic Gardens has been postponed due to the selection of a number players from those teams to the national Under-20 squad which will compete in the Concacaf final round starting next week.